Strs Ohio Has $1.63 Million Position in Essent Group Ltd. $ESNT

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE:ESNT) by 137.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,800 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Essent Group were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESNT. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 1,765.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 27.8% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essent Group by 160.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Essent Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essent Group by 12.5% during the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. 93.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Essent Group from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Essent Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Essent Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.29.

Insider Transactions at Essent Group

In other Essent Group news, SVP Mary Lourdes Gibbons sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $291,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 237,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,939,032. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essent Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $62.21 on Wednesday. Essent Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.33 and a 200-day moving average of $61.71.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $311.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 55.63%.The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Essent Group Ltd. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Essent Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.05%.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a publicly traded insurance holding company specializing in private mortgage insurance and mortgage reinsurance solutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, the company provides credit protection to mortgage lenders, helping mitigate the risk of borrower default on residential mortgage loans. Essent’s insurance policies enable lenders to offer low-down-payment programs, supporting homebuyers in achieving homeownership with reduced upfront equity requirements.

Beyond traditional mortgage insurance, Essent offers a suite of risk management and analytics services designed to help financial institutions monitor and manage mortgage portfolios.